The lost inches: circumcision debates in gay men’s magazines

Allan, Jonathan A.

doi:10.1080/23268743.2019.1590226

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A magazine like Sexology , while certainly “sensational”—and we cannot deny this as undoubtedly this is part of why it sold—was, we might suggest, also responding to ongoing societal and cultural concerns about circumcision, amongst a range of sexual topics. These same concerns continue to appear in magazines, for instance, Hustler published articles on circumcision (Allan, 2018), and a range of gay male pornographic publications have also taken up the issue (Allan, 2019b). This article, however, is one of the first to consider as much of a print run as possible and to look at how the debates shifted over the course of several decades.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…This debate has unfolded in newspapers, parenting manuals, medical studies, and policy papers, and opinions seem to be constantly in flux. The debates are deeply divided so much so that since about 1980, we have witnessed the rise of organized anti-circumcision activism, or intactivism (being a portmanteau of "intact" and "activism") in North America (Allan, 2018(Allan, , 2019a(Allan, , 2019bKennedy & Sardi, 2016;Sardi, 2011Sardi, , 2014. In her work, Carpenter has explored the medicalization, demedicalization, and remedicalization of circumcision.…”

Section: Medicalized Circumcisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Circumcision Debates in Sexology Magazine (1934–1975)

Allan

2021

The Journal of Men’s Studies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores articles about circumcision that appeared in Sexology: Sex Science Magazine, with particular attention to how the debates shifted and changed over a forty-year period. The articles on circumcision in Sexology begin in November 1934 and end in the May 1973 issue, with every decade of publication includes articles on circumcision, corresponding with growing debates about the medicalization of routine neonatal circumcision. The first article sought to understand “circumcision among savage peoples,” which was quickly followed by an article on “Circumcision among the Jews,” and then “Medical view of circumcision.” In its earliest issues, Sexology advanced arguments in favor of routine circumcision, but in its final article on the topic, Sexology asks, “what’s so good about circumcision?”

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Medicalized Circumcisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circumcision Debates in Sexology Magazine (1934–1975)

Allan

2021

The Journal of Men’s Studies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Books about puberty present an interesting and important space to consider debates about the foreskin. These debates are no longer limited to the pages of scientific journals but rather are found in books about puberty, the material of this article, but also sex manuals, parenting manuals, news media, and magazines, including pornographic magazines (Allan 2018(Allan , 2019b(Allan , 2021Carpenter 2010). Throughout this study, it has been demonstrated that puberty manuals tend to explain what circumcision is, provide various reasons for why it is done, and ultimately try to assure their readers that a circumcised penis is no better than an uncircumcised penis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Normal Foreskin

Allan¹

2023

Boyhood Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Puberty marks a time of significant transition in the life of a boy as he progresses toward adulthood—and a time of confusion and concern. Many questions are likely thought or asked by the boy as he approaches and lives with puberty. Sex education is taught formally and informally, in the home, on the schoolyard, in the media. Over the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, publishers have produced numerous books about puberty and its experience for young readers. In this article, I consider a specific debate that unfolds in these books, namely, circumcision. To these ends, I define the circumcision debate, briefly consider the genre of puberty books, and analyze the circumcision debate in these books. While these books recognize a circumcision debate, they ultimately frame the circumcised penis or intact penis as equally viable and normal.

show abstract

“…To be certain, anti-circumcision movements are not without their critiques, and some scholars have highlighted the problematic elements of the movement, notably the comparison between female genital mutilation and male circumcision (for critiques, see Silverman, 2004;Kennedy, 2016;Osserman, 2021). I am arguing here, as I have elsewhere (Allan, 2018(Allan, , 2019(Allan, , 2021, that pornographic texts were and continue to be central in debates surrounding the foreskin and play an important role in the history of intactivism.…”

Section: Restoration and Early Intactivism In Fqmentioning

confidence: 93%

Reading Foreskin Quarterly: Aesthetics as Argument Against Circumcision

Allan

2023

The Journal of Men’s Studies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, I set out to study Foreskin Quarterly, which was the Official Publication of the Uncircumcised Society of America (USA). Over the course of its history, it changed editorial hands and publishers hands several times, and with each change the magazine shifted direction that influenced and affected its original goals of foreskin activism. I argue that this magazine braided together pornography and activism in a way that was novel and important because in arguing against circumcision, it also sought to reclaim and eroticize the foreskin in a culture where the foreskin was anomalous and rare. Unfortunately, this magazine has largely gone unread by scholars, not just of pornography, but also of circumcision, and men’s bodies more generally. This article, thus, contributes to a growing body of scholarship on anti-circumcision activism, while also arguing for the importance of pornography in that activist milieu.

show abstract

The lost inches: circumcision debates in gay men’s magazines

Cited by 5 publications

References 21 publications

Circumcision Debates in Sexology Magazine (1934–1975)

Circumcision Debates in Sexology Magazine (1934–1975)

The Normal Foreskin

Reading Foreskin Quarterly: Aesthetics as Argument Against Circumcision

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About